Ariana Shapiro

Ariana Shapiro's Posts

Power Shift NY Postponed to April 2012

Posted on September 28, 2011
by Ariana Shapiro, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Hello New Yorkers!

Breaking news about Power Shift New York: The Green Umbrella is postponing the convergence to April 2012.

Two weeks ago, Josh Fox brought to our attention that the Delaware River Basin Commission will be holding a hearing on October 21 in Trenton, NJ, to determine whether fracking will be permitted in the region. The Delaware River Basin supplies clean drinking water to over 15 million people in four states (NY, NJ, PA, DE). This is our call to action. We need to mobilize New York youth to rally at the hearing alongside thousands of others - it’s a pivotal moment in the anti-fracking movement.

While Power Shift New York has to be postponed, we’ve already laid the foundations for an awesome conference, and more time means more people, more workshops, and a better action! We need you to help us escalate to Power Shift and make Power Shift the tipping point for youth power and clean energy in New York.

If you are interested in organizing your campus/community to the DRBC hearing in Trenton, NJ on 10/21, sign up here.
If you are interested in organizing your campus/community to Power Shift New York in April 2012, sign up here.

Get involved in the swelling movement of NY youth calling for a healthy, sustainable future! Join the weekly conference calls each Thursday for the Green Umbrella, the network of New York Youth for a Just and Sustainable Future. The call-in code is 916-209-4534, and the PIN is 753-094.

Hope to organize with you soon!

The Power Shift New York Planning Team

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A Minor's Reflections on the Keystone XL Pipeline and Civil Disobedience

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Posted on September 5, 2011
by Ariana Shapiro, Yale University, New Haven, CT

I lay on the hardwood floor of the church of St. Stephen, the patron saint of travelers, staring at the gaping jaws of the beams above me while the sounds of sleeping activists rose from the pews. The holy place harbored our bodies while we shared the same dream of a livable future. The next day, these slumbering human bodies would send a message to our government. First we sent our votes, then we sent our voices. Now we send our bodies.

But not all of us sent our votes. When Obama was elected president in 2008, I was fourteen years old. Today I am seventeen, still unable to vote under American law. Politically, my opinion means nothing; so let my words ring twice as loud.

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A NY Youth Revolution

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Posted on July 12, 2011
by Ariana Shapiro, Yale University, New Haven, CT

At the New York State breakout of Power Shift, a line of young people wound around the side of the stage in the cavernous Hall B. One by one, they came up to the microphone and spoke to the audience about their concerns for their communities: the Indian Point nuclear power plant in the lower Hudson Valley, poor transportation options in Long Island, hydrofracking in Central and Western NY, bad air quality in New York City, and the list went on and on. And I couldn’t help but smile, because the students were so articulate, so clearly and deeply passionate about protecting their communities and environment.

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